Letter opener



P 3, 1963 D. F. HALDEMAN ETAL 3, 2,335

LETTER OPENER Filed Nov. 17, 1961 -2 Sheets-Sheet 1 J, I I [-J" 25 l' /6 INVENTO R.

DONALD E HAL DEMA/V CLIFFORD/L STONE ATTORNEYS P 3, 1963 D. F. HALDEMAN ETAL 3,102,335

LETTER OPENER 'Filed Nov. 17, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG.5 2/ /7 23 5 l 2% r f w /7" INVENTOR. DONALD HALDEMA/V L/FFoxm ,4. 570

MVM

ATTORNEYS l the feed groove;

inner side of the wall 17, and from there 3,102,335 l 1 LETTER OPENER 'J, Donald F. Haldeman, 700 Tower Bldg, and Clilford A. Stone, 3120 Harris Place, both of Seattle, Wash.-

Filed Nov. 17, 1961, Set. No.' 153,056 1 1 Claim. (Cl. 30-294) The present invention relates to a 'letteriopener utiliz- I V ing a razor blade asthe instrument for cutting off the f edge of an envelope,

Important objects of-the nvention are to provide an improved such letter opener which is unusually coin-pact,

purse, can beirnolded' inexpensively from plastics, gives extended life to theflblade, andyhas an easy blade renewing operation.

Other more particular objects and advantages will,

i together with these general objectaappear and be understood in the .courseof the following description and.

claim, the invention consisting in the novel construction and in the adaptation and'combination of parts hereinafter" described and claimed.

' In the accompanying drawings:'

FIGURE 1' is a perspective view opener in operation. t 1 p FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the devicewith parts of illustrating our letter the cover and blade bnokcn away.

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of theletter opener. FIG, 4 is a longitudinal side: 'elevational -'vi ew of the opener with part of the outerwall: "of the feed groove broken away. l b

FIG. 5 is alongitudinal vertical sectional "View takenice math the levelyof the blade seat an amount defining thedesired width ofcut. Along its ingressend portion the feed groove maybe of uni-form widthpbu-t the outer oblique wall 13 is recessed at a point in alinement longitudinally of the case wit-h the rear end of-t-he cutout 20 to form a triangular blade seat portion24 whichtis V coplan-ar with blade seat '21 and provides the tourth corner tor the latter. Forwardly of the seat portion 24 the reed groove 1-4 is relieved to have an egress portion 14alwhich is widened to the width between the outer edge'o-f 'theseatportion 24 tandthe'cutout 20.

simple to operate, safe to use land carry in a pocket or The cover .12fis a illat'plate which is shaped to fit snugl'yover the blade between the wallslfi through 19v and has an oblique jog 12a arranged to registerlwith the cutout zfl. For ease in removing the cover, the =f-ront wall has a notch 25 extending-to a depth exceeding the cover thickness so that a pencil or other convenient pointed objectcan be readily inserted beneath the cover along the line '5-5 of FIG. 2 with the cover and blade removed. I V r FIG. 6 is a detail plan view of ,the egress portion of FIG. 7'Iis a vertical sectional detail view traversing the feed groove and taken as indicated by line 7'-7 of' FIG. 6.

- 'Referring to the drawings itisseen that the cutting instrument for our envelope opener is preferably a double,-

edged razor blade 10 which is seated in a case 11 and held therein by a removable top cover 112. "The caseis, generally rectangular in plan .view' except that one corner is beveled providing an .outer oblique wall 1 3. This wall is separated by anupwardly expose-d teed groove 14 from an inner oblique wall 15- which joinssat its ends wall 18 and the rear end wall 19. :It will noted that the wallslfithrough 19 define .acavity. tor receiving the blade 10 and {that the inner obtuse wall ,15 has a blade receiving cutout 20 along the top of its forward endportion to a; depth corresponding to the 'top iace r of a peripheral blade seat 21.

This seat is formed as an inner step or. ledge along the walls 16, 1'8 and 19 and as a longitudinal web 22 extending between the rear wall 19 and the back of the cutout 20. The three cornersof the blade seat within thecase cavity have slightly raised cover seat portions'22, which are complemented l to pry itfree of the case. Otherwise the press fit ofthe cover12 locks it in place and responsively retains the blade. 10 in operative position with one of its cutting edges projecting fromthe cutout 20 and obliquely travers ing the feed, groove. This projectingblade edge rests on the seat portion 24 and bears against the adjoining inner face portions of the outer oblique wall 13. a v Ourletter opener is particularly designedto be inex- 5 pensively molded. irom 'plasticQCThe flat surfaces of the'cover and base of the case are ideal as printing sur:

races for advertising. -For added utility the case 'isformed with an eye 27 at one end for receiving a key chain.

As illustrated in FIG. 1,1116 openingof :a-letter is easily performed with the device of the present invention by manually advancing an edge of the envelope 26 along the base of the teed groove 14 with one hand while I holdingat-he device in the other hand. The blade 10 neatly cuts a thin edge strip 26a from the envelope and as a result of the design of the egress portion" 14a of the feed groove there is no tendency for this strip to pile up beneath the blade even when thecutting edge begins to dull. At all times-the user' is guarded front contact with the cutting edge. Since theblade can be turned end t at obtuse angles with-a iorward end wall 1G, and a longitudinal side wall .17. These wa1ls- 16 -17-are intnrn joined at right ,angles with the opposite longitudinal side tor end and upside down relative to the case after removal of thecover, four different cutting edge portions of the blade can be selectively located in cutting position traversing the feed groove. 'In this manner thelife of each blade is greatly extended.

It is believed' that the invention will have been clearly understood from the foregoing description of our now- I preferred illustrated embodiment. No limitations are to implied, theintention being that the hereto annexed I claim be given the broadest interpretation to which the, employed language fairlyadmits.

What we claim'is: A letter opener comprising a generally'rectangular fiat case modified atone 'corner by an oblique edge, an openended teed Igroove along said oblique 'edge'opening tov ward one of the flat sides of the case and defined by by a shoulder 2-3;;eX-tending' at the same, level along the arend thereof to the-adjacent cover seat. a t H 1 The iced groove 14 has its base spaced uniformly beinner and outer obliquewalls, a bladecavity in 's'aidcase intersectingvsaid groove by a rectangular cutout in said inner oblique wall, said cutout and cavity facing in the same, direction as said groove, :a generally rectangularr flat blade seat primarily located in said cavity coplanar with the'bottor'nt of said cutout and spaced from the bottom of saidxgroove, three corners of said'blade seat I j 3,102,335 P te ted Sept, 3, recs being within the cavity and a fourth corner being formed as a recess in said outer oblique wall, a generally rectangmlar double-edged fiat cutting blade resting against said blade seat with a portion of one of its cutting edges traversing said groove at an oblique angle therewith, said feed groove having an ingress portion intersecting said cutting edge at an acute angle from an ingress end spaced laterally of the case from the blade and said feed groove having a widened egress portion continuing from said blade seat portion to the other end of the groove, and a generally rectangular removable flat cover plate modified at one corner by an oblique edge, said cover plate snugly interfitt-ing with said case and covering said cavity and References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,204,763 Maximilian June 18, 1940 2,291,294 Holste July 28, 1942 2,298,024 Vallarelli Oct. 6, 1942 2,456,436 Metzger Dec. 4, 1948 2,688,187 Pauli Sept. 7, 1954 2,748,478 Shelton June 5, 1956 

